The Tamil people, also known as Tamilians, Tamilar, Thamizhar, or simply Tamils, are an ethnic group who speak the Tamil language as their mother tongue and trace their ancestry to Southern India and north-eastern Sri Lanka. Tamils, with a population of around 76 million and with a documented history stretching back over 2,000 years, are one of the largest and oldest extant ethnolinguistic groups in the modern world. Tamils constitute 5.9% of the population in India, 15% in Sri Lanka, 6% in Mauritius, 7% in Malaysia and 5% in Singapore.
Māri, also known as Mariamman and Mariaai, both meaning "Mother Mari", spelt also Maariamma, or simply Amman or Aatha is a Hindu goddess of rain especially popular in Tamil Nadu and surrounding regions. She is the main mother goddess predominant in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu and Thirucherai. Māri is closely associated with the Hindu goddesses Parvati and Durga as well as with her northern counterpart Shitala devi. The goddess Mariamman is considered by many to be the incarnation of the Goddess Kali. It is said that when Kali went to southern India as Mariamman, Bhairava followed her as Madurai Veeran. Her festivals are held during the late summer/early autumn season of "Aadi". Throughout the Tamil Nadu and Deccan region, the grand festival known as "Aadi Thiruvizha" is devoted to Maariamman. Her worship mainly focuses on bringing rains and curing diseases like cholera, smallpox, and chicken pox.
Millions of members of the Indian diaspora, of different religions, reside and work in the Gulf Arab countries. Many of them are Hindu. Many came due to the migration of Indians and Nepalese expatriates and employees to the oil-rich states around the Persian Gulf.
Hindus currently make up 12.60% of the Sri Lankan population, and are almost exclusively Tamils apart from small immigrant communities from India and Pakistan such as the Sindhis, Telugus and Malayalees. In the 1915 census they made up almost 25% of the population, which included the indentured labourers the British had brought. Due to emigration, today they are still a sizeable minority. Hinduism is dominant in the North and Eastern provinces, where there are predominantly Tamil people. Hinduism is also practised in the central regions as well as in the capital, Colombo. According to the government census of 2011, there are 2,554,606 Hindus in Sri Lanka constituting 12.6% of the country's population. During the Sri Lankan Civil War, many Tamils fled to other countries. There are Hindu temples abroad which were built by the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora to maintain their religion, tradition and culture.
The Tamil diaspora refers to descendants of the Tamil immigrants who emigrated from their native lands to other parts of the world. They are found primarily in Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, South Africa, Pakistan, Réunion, Mauritius, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America, and the Caribbean.
Hindu religion and culture in Singapore can be traced back to the 7th century AD, when Temasek was a trading post of Hindu-Buddhist Srivijaya empire. A millennium later, a wave of immigrants from southern India were brought to Singapore, mostly as coolies and indentured labourers by the British East India Company and colonial British Empire. As with Malay peninsula, the British administration sought to stabilise a reliable labour force in its regional plantation and trading activities; it encouraged Hindus to bring family through the kangani system of migration, settle, build temples and segregated it into a community that later became Little India.
Aadi pirappu commonly known as the Aadi monsoon festival and also written as Aadiperukku is a Tamil festival celebrated on the 18th day of the Tamil month of Adi. The festival pays tribute to water's life-sustaining properties. For the blessing of mankind with peace, prosperity and happiness, nature worship in the form of Amman deities are organized to shower Nature’s bountiful grace on human beings.
Hinduism in the Seychelles is the second largest religion after Christianity, with more than 2.4% of the population. The Hindu following in Seychelles has seen an increase in the community with the organization of the Seychelles Hindu Kovil Sangam and the consecration of the Navasakti Vinayagar Temple. The increase in size and popularity of Hinduism caused the Government to declare Taippoosam Kavadi Festival a holiday.
Samayapuram Mariamman Temple is a Hindu temple in Samayapuram in Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, India. The main deity, Samayapurathal or Mariamman, a form of supreme mother goddess Durga or Maha Kali or Aadi Shakthi, is made of sand and clay like many of the traditional Mariamman deities is considered as most powerful Goddess, and hence unlike many other Hindu deities there are no abhishekams conducted to the main deity, but instead the "abishekam" is done to the small stone statue in front of it.
Sathyamurthi Perumal Temple in Thirumayam, a panchayat town in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Sathyamurthi Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Ujeevana Thayar.
kathirgamam temple in Kataragama, Sri Lanka, is a temple complex dedicated to Buddhist guardian deity Kataragama deviyo and Hindu War God Murugan. It is one of the few religious sites in Sri Lanka that is venerated by the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and the Vedda people. For most of the past millennia, it was a jungle shrine very difficult to access; today it is accessible by an all-weather road. The shrines and the nearby Kiri Vehera are managed by Buddhists, the shrines dedicated to Teyvāṉai and Shiva are managed by Hindus and the mosque by Muslims.
Thirumanikkoodam or Varadaraja Perumal Temple is located in Thirunangur, a village in the outskirts of Sirkazhi in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Varadharaja Perumal.
Parimala Ranganathar Perumal Temples or Tiruindaloor is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, located in Thiruvilandur of Mayiladuthurai, a town in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the Divya Desams, the 108 temples of Vishnu revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars. This temple is along Kaveri and is one of the Pancharanga Kshetrams.
Tamil Mauritians are the descendants of Tamil migrants to Mauritius. The original immigrants from Tamil were craftsmen and tradesmen and arrived when Mauritians was ruled by France. The island nation has a Tamil population of 115,000. Most were brought by the British from Tamil Nadu after 1727 to serve as labourers on the sugar cane plantations. Around 15 percent of Indo-Mauritians are Tamils. The community includes a Hindu majority and the rest are Christians . They account to 55,000 of the Mauritian population. Of this number, around 7000 people reported that they spoke Tamil. Most Tamils in Mauritius are Hindus. A large population of the Tamils in Mauritius live in Rose-Hill.
Vekkali Amman Temple is a temple dedicated to the Goddess Vekkaali, a form of the Goddess Kali. It is located in Woraiyur, a suburb in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India. The central shrine of the temple houses the image of Vekkali Amman and the major feature of the temple is the absence of roof over the sanctum. The temple is known from the period of early Cholas, but there are no historical records. The people of Woraiyur see Vekkali Amman as their guardian deity. The temple has six daily rituals in its calendar and celebrates six annual festivals. The temple chariot is made of gold and was launched during 2010. The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Popularly called as the "Manchester of South India", the culture of Coimbatore is based on Kongu Vellala Gounder's community.Distinctly different from that of any other city in India. Being a cosmopolitan city, the culture of the city reflects its diverse population which has resulted in a unique blend. Though it is generally considered a traditional city, Coimbatore is more diverse and cosmopolitan than other cities in Tamil Nadu. Traditional music, dance and all other art forms of Tamil Nadu are very popular in the city. One can find a unique blend of culture from traditional foods to fast foods, from ancient temple architecture to modern high-rises and from classical music and dance to the growing nightlife in the city. Coimbatore and its people have a reputation for entrepreneurship.
Adi Kesava Temple is dedicated to Hindu god Vishnu located in Mylapore, Chennai, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Sri Aadi Kesava Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Mayuravalli Thayar. The temple is believed to be the birthplace of Peyazhwar, one of the first three of the twelve azhwar saints of the 6th-9th century AD.
Thiruvazhmarban Temple in Thiruppathisaram, a village in Kanyakumari district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Thiruvazhmarban and his consort Lakshmi as Kamalavalli. The oldest inscription in the temple is from 1139 AD indicating gifts to the temple. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines. The temple tank is located opposite to the temple, outside the main entrance.
The Pondichérien diaspora is a demographic group of people from Puducherry state of India who have emigrated and settled in other parts of the world, significantly in France, Réunion and the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. There are around 300,000 of them living around the world.
